Congratulations Philadelphia Eagles on your Super Bowl win!  Great game. Takes me back.

I only played one year of football, but oh, what a time. It was my first year in high school and I survived the cut to make it on our Junior Varsity team. There was a lot of pressure on us to perform. Our school had a streak going as our previous j.v. squads had gone undefeated the last 2 years. And so the weight of history was certainly resting upon our shoulder pads.

I was, at various times, an offensive tight end, a defensive end, a member of the punt rush squad, or on the kickoff team. But I mainly tested out different sections of the bench. The good news was that for most weekends, my uniform needed no washing… a fact that I’m sure pleased my mother.

That’s not entirely true. I did get my fair share of playing time.  Mostly in blocking or tackling situations. I always had visions of catching a pass for a touchdown as I always believed it to be my strongest athletic ability. But this was j.v. high school football in the 70s. There wasn’t a lot of passing taking place. So I blocked or tackled.

We did make our school proud, becoming the 3rd consecutive squad to have an undefeated season. But I decided not to try out for the varsity team the following year. It seems football practice ate into too much of the summer and summers were when I made my money for the year as my parents did not want me working while school was in session.

So I had to choose –  play football or have cash in my pocket.  I went with the cash. If only my high school coach had inserted some passing plays into our playbook and used them on game days. My decision… heck, my entire life… might have turned out differently.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit http://www.homevideostudio.com/mtd.